Suspect held in Modesto slayings

A man is in custody in the deaths of 3 girls and 2 women who were found dead in a home Saturday.

A suspect was arrested Sunday in the slayings of three girls and two women in Modesto, authorities said.

Martin Martinez, 30, who had initially been named a person of interest in the case, was booked into Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of murder, said Heather Graves, a spokeswoman for the Modesto Police Department.

He is being held without bail, according to county records.

The girls were ages 6 months to 6 years, Graves said.

Martinez had had a relationship with one of the women, and one of the children was his daughter, Graves said.

He was taken into custody by San Jose police early Sunday after they were alerted that he could be headed there, driving a red 2000 Lincoln Navigator, authorities said.

Modesto police received a call Saturday afternoon asking officers to make a security check atasingle- family residence in the 2600 block of Nob Hill Court.

They arrived to find five bodies.

Police have not released the victims’ names, howthey were killed or a possible motive for the slayings.

Family and friends, however, identified one victim as Dr. Amanda Crews, according to the Modesto Bee.

Crews’ mother, Paulette Beidleman of Fallon, Nev., told the newspaper that her daughter decided to become a doctor after breaking her arm in grade school andwas always dedicated to helping others.

Beidleman did not reveal the names of any of the other victims. She told the Bee that she met Martinez briefly about a year ago when he and her daughter were in Nevada.

“It’s shocking,” Beidleman said of the slayings.